Mayor McDermott talks a good game about he's helping the taxpayers of Hammond by cutting the city budget and reducing the tax levy. If that were really true, the proposed 2007 tax rate for the civil city would not have increased by 39% over the 2006 tax rate. If he was really committed to reducing spending, the tax rate would be less not more.
If Mayor McDermott needs help with cutting the fat from Hammond's budget, here are some suggestions to help him out:
1) Eliminate the mayor's photographer at an annual salary of $50,000/year. Everyone has already seen enough pictures of the mayor to last a lifetime.
2) Eliminate the United Neighborhoods Inc. Department. This is a redundant department. The city already has a department called Neighborhoods Incorporated which performs the same functions. The mayor eliminated the Health Department because it was a redundant service so too, should this department be eliminated.
3) Eliminate the Mayor's television show. It is paid for with taxpayer money.
4) Eliminate the Legal Aid Clinic. Another redundant service that needs to be eliminated.
5) The city has 90 take-home cars. Eliminate all non-essential vehicles.
These suggestions are just for starters. We have many more ideas on how to cut the fat from the city's budget and help the taxpayers.
And by the way, did the Mayor really think the citizens of Hammond were so gullible as to believe that by shifting the Sanitation and Recycling Departments to the Sanitary District, he was actually saving us money by taking those two departments out of the city budget? Most people have seen their water bills increase by $120 a year. Will our property taxes go down by that much or more?